1. Field
Embodiments generally relate to networks. More particularly, embodiments relate to managing network security.
2. Related Art
The development of networks has introduced new applications to the computing environment and has enabled greater access to information. While the vast majority of activity on networks has a legitimate and harmless purpose, there is activity having a malicious, harmful, or illegitimate purpose. A general role of network security is to eliminate and address the malicious, harmful, or illegitimate activity but minimize the impact on legitimate and harmless activity.
There are many different approaches to network security. These different approaches may be characterized by factors such as complexity, cost, effectiveness, scalability, speed, and adaptability to network packet traffic variations. Each approach tries to optimize several of these factors and has its limitations. One approach (inline approach) focuses on inserting a security device in a particular network packet traffic path and analyzing each network packet passing through the particular network packet traffic path. This approach is costly since many high-performance security devices have to be deployed in the network. Moreover, this approach is not scalable due to its cost and complexity.